I have a beginner question if you wouldn't mind. I am working on playing some slower blues (starting with slow and getting a good tone, fast comes later!) so I've been listening to Adam's vid on Slow Blues and there is an effect I am unable to get. (see at 2:22 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb_wZqc_VZY&feature=related , I find it difficult to describe but there is something 'extra' - and I don't mean vibrato/tremolo) I have heard of 'tongue slapping' before - is this it (if so how do I do it?)? I hear James Cotton doing this stuff a lot and would love to learn how it's done!
Technique used is indeed tongue slapping and blocking, using split octave. Check out for example here: http://www.harpsurgery.com/how-to-play/fluttering/
@ Philippe: yeah, he is using the tongue, though, as far as I can tell, he's mostly doing what's called 'flutter tongue', which is just lifting the tongue off and on rapidly to produce that kind of tremolo effect. However, as far as I can tell, he's not blocking out the two middle holes, but, rather, the three holes on the left of the note he's actually playing, which takes quite a bit more practice. It took me a good few months and I'm still just getting the hang of it.
A word of caution. I know that piece is cool and fun to play, but, if you've not been playing for that long, don't use that piece as your short term goal. Although he says, 'keep it simple' that piece is anything but simple, at least with the finesse he plays it with. By all means, tinker with it, but also practise just being able to play a 1st position major scale tongue blocked, blocking out three notes on the left. Your tongue should lie on your bottom lip, and the harp will need to be angled in such a way that the tongue can effectively block out the channels you don't want to sound. At least, that's what I've figured from my books and endlessly working at it. Also, don't press the harp too hard on your tongue; that will make things unnecessarily difficult.
When you're getting to play a few scalar passages with some fluency, then start adding rhythms to the notes by lifting your tongue off and on the tongue blocked notes. This is all that slaps, pulls and flutters are.
Although it's a bit boring, 'When The Saints Go Marching In' is a good tune to practice this on. Break the phrases down into their smallest chunks and go for smoothness (legato). Staccato (the opposite) is much easier to do, both with regard to breath control and tongue action.
Hope that helps.
EDIT: When I said, 'the harp will need to be angled in such a way that the tongue can effectively block out the channels you don't want to sound,' I didn't mean either to the left or the right; I meant the angle that your tongue approaches the harp head on, as it were. Don't get into the habit of pushing the harp into the right side of your face to make the technique seem easier 'cos then you'll have to break that habit when trying to play octave tremolos and side-to-side tongue swishes. Try to do it with your face, jaw and tongue as relaxed as they can be while still getting the effect you want. ---------- YouTube SlimHarpMick
Last Edited by on Oct 19, 2010 6:36 AM
Tongue slapping is definatly something everyone should learn. It's added so much to my playing,i only recently learnt how to do it but boy it sounds good when you get the hang of it, especially for that old school blues sound. It took me a while to learn how to Tongue block and slap, especially as i was a 99% pucker,my body initially resited but now i can comfortably switch between the two methods. ----------
